Longtime Ford Motor Co. executive Jennifer Moneagle has been appointed group brand manager for the company's Mercury unit, making her one of the highest-ranking women in the U.S. auto industry's marketing segment.
Moneagle, 43, will be responsible for marketing and strategies for all of the Mercury brands. The sales specialist, who is scheduled to relocate to Mercury's offices in Irvine on May 17, will be charged with revving up consumer interest in a once-proud brand name that has been slumping for decades.
Moneagle, who joined Ford in 1981, was not available for comment Thursday.
Irvine-based Lincoln Mercury has been a problem unit for Ford for a number of years, and the giant auto maker has been focusing on improving both Lincoln and Mercury brand sales.
Moneagle takes over from Alfred Giombetti, who has returned to Ford headquarters in Michigan to serve as brand manager for Ford trucks. Giombetti, 42, became Mercury's first group brand manager last June, when Ford moved Lincoln Mercury to Southern California to infuse new life into the two upscale brands.
Lincoln sales took off two years ago with the introduction of the Navigator luxury sports-utility vehicle, and the company hopes for another boost this summer with the introduction of the new LS--an entry-level luxury model built on the same platform as the new S-Type by Jaguar, Ford's British luxury performance subsidiary.
Mercury has been helped by the sporty new Cougar coupe--the only model it doesn't share with Ford. But generally, industry analysts have faulted Mercury for being little more than a steppingstone brand in recent years, offering models that merely added some chrome and trim to basic Fords and trying to sell them to customers who have progressed beyond Fords but can't quite afford Lincolns.
There was intense speculation by industry analysts and the automotive press earlier this year that Ford was planning to eliminate Mercury entirely.
Ford, however, has said it intends to keep Mercury and restore it to health.
In Ford's marketing plan, Mercury will be the division used to experiment with styling and features. Mercury officials won't discuss plans for future models except to acknowledge that a new sport-utility, smaller than the Ford Explorer, will be added to the lineup next year. Earlier this year the company said it would stop selling the compact Mercury Tracer, a nonstarter in the sales race.
